How to Handle Customer Enquiries During Haze Season in Singapore
Practical tips for small service businesses to manage enquiries when the haze hits.
Why Haze Season Creates a Spike in Enquiries
When the haze rolls in, your customers get anxious. They want to know if you're still operating, whether your services are affected, and what precautions you're taking. For a small service business in Singapore, that can mean a sudden flood of phone calls, emails, and messages — all asking the same few questions. It's not ideal when your team is already stretched trying to keep things running smoothly.
The trick is to handle those repetitive enquiries without pulling your staff away from the work that actually needs doing. That's where having a system in place makes all the difference.
What You Can Automate Without Losing Control
You don't want a chatbot that guesses or says something it shouldn't. What you want is something that sticks to the script you've written. With a governed AI platform, you define exactly what it can say — for example, 'We are open as usual, but please allow extra time for deliveries' or 'All outdoor services are suspended until further notice.'
It won't make up answers. If a customer asks something outside those approved topics, it simply says it doesn't know and passes the enquiry to a human. That's rather the point — you keep control while freeing up your team.
Setting Up Your Haze Season Response
You'd start by drafting a few key responses. Common ones include: operating hours, service availability, refund or rescheduling policies, and health advisories. You then load those into the system, and it handles the rest. It can work across your website, Facebook page, or WhatsApp — wherever your customers tend to ask.
If the haze situation changes, you update the responses in minutes. No need to retrain anyone or send out mass emails. Your customers get consistent, accurate answers every time.
When to Hand Off to a Human
Not everything should be automated. If a customer has a complex complaint or wants to discuss a specific booking, that's best handled by a person. The AI recognises when it's out of its depth and flags the conversation for your team. You get a clear record of what was asked and what was said, so your staff can pick it up without repeating themselves.
This balance — automated for the routine, human for the tricky — is what keeps your customers happy and your team sane during a busy haze period.
Keeping Your Customers Informed Without the Fuss
Beyond handling individual enquiries, you can use the same system to push out updates. If you decide to close early or change a policy, you update the responses once, and every customer who asks gets the latest information. No more chasing down outdated posts or answering the same question twenty times.
It's a small thing, but it makes a big difference when you're trying to keep a business running smoothly in less-than-ideal conditions.
Getting Started Before the Next Haze
The best time to set this up is before you need it. Once the haze hits, you'll be too busy to think about systems. Take an hour now to draft your responses and test the flow. Your future self — and your team — will thank you.
If you'd like to see how this works in practice, have a look at the scenarios page on our site. It walks through a few common situations, including haze season, so you can see exactly what's involved.